At the time it was read out on air and retweeted by Kermode & Mayo (a.k.a. @wittertainment) so I felt I ought to follow up on my tweet. Sadly, cinemas are expensive, and generally not my favourite places to be. Last night I was delighted to see that Argo is already available on iTunes! I downloaded it, watched it, and afterwards was so in awe of what I had just watched that I just had to submit my review on iTunes:

If you can forgive [Ben] Affleck for not sticking to the exact story, I think you may love this movie. You see, while Affleck does drift off from the exact events that inspired this work, we all know its conclusion and to then make it into a movie that is so intense and so full of suspense, yet with enough focus on the characters – all of them – to keep them human… that’s no mean feat, yet Affleck nails it.

I disagree with other reviewers who call this a “re-writing of history”; when you watch Argo you may find, as I did, that there are various specific points in its screenplay where Affleck could have just veered off and really make this into a bloated, chauvinist re-writing of history (possibly riddled with plenty of action scenes, special effects, CGI and other pompous drivel)… yet at those very points you can see he has held back and kept it together; I feel that’s what makes this movie all the more intense. Argo is no flippant or shallow piece of ‘strong and clever American superheroes vs. nasty and dumb non-American evil-doers’ fiction, when Affleck could quite easily have made it into that, and other directors probably would have done so.

On paper, this movie probably wouldn’t have appealed to me, exactly for the aforementioned reasons raised against it by other reviewers (reasons that I disagree with now that I’ve seen the movie). It was Ben Affleck himself who made me want to watch it when I heard him being interviewed about it by Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo last year. He was so tremendously engaging and intelligent in that interview that I felt compelled to go watch this movie. Tonight I have watched it and I am immensely grateful that I did. It’s sublime.

I forgot to include a health warning with the above review, so I feel the need to correct that mistake here: I really only ever watch anything when I go to bed. Usually that helps me unwind and then I tend to nod off into a relaxing sleep (quite often even before the ending of whatever it is I am watching). On this occasion the suspense was so great that I found myself wide awake and mildly hyperventilating for at least half an hour afterwards. So please, be warned.

The new podcast “Ian Collins Wants a Word” will launch on 31 January 2012.
(Aside from that, you can catch Ian on radio weekly on Stephen Nolan’s show on BBC 5live on Saturdays after 10pm, and see him make regular TV appearances on BBC News and Sky News.)*

Some answers to questions (as previously posted in the Facebook page’s comments):

Q: How do I get Ian’s podcast(s)?
A: From Tuesday 31 January 2012 you can download it and/or subscribe to it using iTunes, or listen to it on iancollins.com.

Q: Why can’t I find Ian’s podcast on iTunes?
A: Because it’s not there yet. It launches 31 January 2012 and won’t be visible before then.

Q: Is there an RSS feed/URL for Ian’s podcast?
A: Not yet. It launches 31 January 2012 and any direct link(s) available from then will be shared when they’re available.

Q: But I don’t have / I hate Apple/iTunes/etc..?
A: You don’t need an iPhone, iPod or iPad to get podcasts; anyone with a PC or Mac can download podcasts using iTunes or listen to it on iancollins.com.

Q: Yeah, but…
A: Bottom line is: any device that can play media files will be able to play podcasts. As for the Ian Collins Wants a Word podcast, if iTunes doesn’t tickle your (device’s) fancy, any web-enabled device should be able to get you to iancollins.com where the podcast will be made available as well.

Q: How can I contribute to Ian’s podcast? A: Give him a shout on the studio mobile 07789 18 32 62 (from outside UK: +44 7789 18 32 62). He wants rants, opinions, things that annoy you, whatever you like! it’s a normal UK mobile number so not premium rates or anything. If he likes the message he may include it on the programme.